05-05-06
Despite the long-standing problems that face
Turkey and its neighbour Greece, a strategic partnership period is being
launched by the two countries.
Turkish and Greek Prime Ministers, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kostas Karamanlis,
attending the Balkan Summit in Selanik (Thessalonica) said their joint energy
cooperation is reaching a strategic level.
Erdogan and Karamanlis spoke for nearly an hour despite the 15 minute meeting
planned, and agreed on further developing the partnership. Diplomatic circles
observe that such a rapprochement is necessary for the security of pipelines and
the support of international companies. The issues of Cyprus, Turkey's EU
progression and minorities were also handled in the talk.
The Turkish PM, mentioning the problems the Turkish minority faces in western
Thrace to Karamanlis, communicated Turkey’s expectations about the Patriarchate
and Heybeliada Seminary. In the meeting, Karamanlis went over Turkey's
membership process with the EU and expressed their expectations about the
opening of Turkish ports to Greek Cypriot ships.
During discussions which handled all aspects of bilateral relations, Erdogan
and Karamanlis said the dialogue process between the two countries is
progressing in a satisfactory way, and must stay on course. The leaders,
pointing out 29 agreements have been signed so far to constitute the legal base
of mutual relationships, concurred with the publicly held view in both countries
to advance joint relations.
Erdogan and Karamanlis underlined major progress, especially in the fields of
commerce and energy, have brought the trade volume of $ 2 bn in 2005 to $ 5 bn
for 2006.
The two leaders said the private sector must be encouraged as well as visits
by the chambers of industry and commerce, and cited the sale of the Greek
National (Etniki) bank which purchased 46 % of Finansbank as example.
Additionally, the Karacabey-Gumulcine (Comotini) Natural Gas Pipeline was also
handled in of the discussions of cooperation in energy. It emphasized that the
project, which will gain a tripartite aspect through the participation of Italy,
will play a key role for Ankara and Athens in the diversifying of the energy
sources in Europe.
Greek sources, in the meantime, said the efforts to set a date for Karamanlis's
visit to Turkey continue.
Source: www.turkishweekly.net